White House sought to strike Iran

WASH­ING­TON: The White House’s na­tional se­cu­rity team last fall asked the Pen­tagon to pro­vide it with op­tions for strik­ing Iran after a group of mil­i­tants aligned with Tehran fired mor­tars into an area in Bagh­dad that is home to the US Em­bassy, the Wall Street Jour­nal re­ported yes­ter­day. The re­quest by the Na­tional Se­cu­rity Coun­cil, which is led by John Bolton, sparked deep con­cern among Pen­tagon and State Depart­ment of­fi­cials, the news­pa­per re­ported, cit­ing cur­rent and for­mer US of­fi­cials. The Pen­tagon com­plied with the re­quest.